Question

According to Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech, Churchill believes the Soviet Union "desires the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines." How might those expansionist desires challenge the Western principle of national political self determination, a cause it championed during World War 2?

-a history question

Answer 1

In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech that is known as “The Iron Curtain”, which in my opinion is talking about how great it would be if we could all just get along and come together in unity. The speech consists of preventing the Soviet Union’s ideals, politics and military from spreading to Europe or further. The Soviet Union respected dictatorship and principles of communism. Communist goals forced by Soviet Union development could jeopardize the West and their ethics. Its numbers was once small in Eastern Europe but now it has grown out of control and even more powerful than the amount of people it has. The Soviet Union does not want war but they like the spoils of it, as do we all. He talks up the new United Nations Organization and how it has a solid base “like a rock” and he says it will not be a “sham” but neither a mere “frothing of words” (The Iron Curtain speech, March 5, 1946). The communist philosophy of government owned companies and limited opening of trade could interfere with transactions in Europe.

In the past the United States fought for freedom, for the people to engage in government issues, and for the liberation of markets and trade. After World War II, the United States became a leader for the beliefs of democracy and capitalism.For them, the plan was to secure democracy, an idea accepted to be the best result for allnations. Britain and the United States offered their assistance to Germany after the war, and stressed that Communism would spread all through Europe. On the other hand, the Soviet Unionneeded to spread Communism and build relations in Europe to ensure protection against future incursions. They wanted to build communism in Germany, causing issues for Britain and America, allowing defeated Germany to offer itself up for grabs (The Iron Curtain speech, March 5, 1946). This would put heavy constraints on the peace that was fought for.

References:

Aall, P. (2016). Byways to peace building. Peace building, 4(1), 1-5.

Churchill, W. S. (2014). The sinews of peace. RosettaBooks.

War, C. (1946). Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech.

White, P. (2013). Our Supreme Task: How Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech Defined the Cold War Alliance. PublicAffairs.